Parents' Interventions in Sibling Conflict: The Administration of Justice in the Family.

Ross, Hildy; And Others

A study examined family conflicts on the premise that conflict between siblings provides an opportunity for the socialization of justice. Forty two-parent, two-child families were observed in their homes during three 90-minute sessions in which the children and parents were in separate areas of the house. In each of the families, one child was 2.5 years old and the other was 4 to 5 years old. Observers recorded sibling interactions and parental interventions in sibling disputes, and found that parents were more likely to support the younger than the older sibling in sibling conflicts. It was also discovered, however, that when the seriousness of the transgression was taken into account, there was no difference between parents' support of older and younger children. Parents favored younger children because they are most often transgressed against. Parents tended to uphold certain "rules," such as those involving sharing, aggression, and property damage, more than others, such as those involving lies, tattling, disagreement, and bossiness. (MDM)